black-hearted betrayal
by Empress of Everything
Summary: A blackened, corrupted heart will believe any lie. {RoLu.}


**A/N:** _This is a preview for a longer, more angsty fic, part of a series actually, that I really thought had serious potential to be a standalone. Tell me if you liked it? :) Please?_

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Her hands shook as she hurried toward him. The agony of their separation had been too much for her. She needed him. Needed him to tell her, reassure her, that the blunt statements his friend had made were lies.

Throwing caution to the winds, she had slipped away from Erza and Laxus, her bodyguards, instead choosing to flee to her beloved, yet secret, husband. Though with the way things were going, her secret would come out sooner rather than later.

The roundness of her belly assured that.

He met her halfway, strong arms encircling her. Here, she felt safe and at peace. No matter how much the world was crashing down around her ears, her husband's arms promised stability. For a few moments, she could ignore the warnings. For just a little while, she could pretend that Sting hadn't told her of her husband's fall. Even if it was true, she pressed her ear to his heart, letting its steady beat assure her she was safe in his arms.

Even if that safety was a lie.

"What are you doing out here? It's not safe for you or the baby." His warm voice rumbled in her ear, breaking through her desperate walls. A hand rubbed up and down her back in a soothing pattern.

"I had to see you." The words tumbled from her mouth in a rush. "I was worried about you." Oh, how it soothed her to finally let the words out. They had been festering in her mind for hours, making her second-guess her motivations. All the thoughts whirled around in her head, nothing settling, nothing sticking. Sting's words played on repeat in her brain. His anguished expression showed her how much he hating having to make such cutting accusations. _He killed all those people; men, women, and children, Lucy, and he showed no regret. Can't you see he needs to be stopped?_ Fear choked her. Her husband would _never_ do such a thing. "Sting…said _terrible_ things about you."

Her ears weren't sensitive enough to catch the grinding of his teeth. Sting? Sting had _dared_ to show his face near Rogue's wife after their parting and dissolution of their partnership? He fought to keep his voice steady. "What did he tell you?"

"He…he said…" She gulped. "He said that you killed families, even the children!" Her eyes darted up to meet his red ones. They were begging him to tell her the truth, that he wasn't a murdering monster. He brushed the pad of his thumb over her left cheek. A warm, salty drop rested on his finger.

"Sting is trying to turn you against me, Lucy." His voice came out silky and not at all reassuring. She pulled back a half step, the first hints of true alarm beginning to build in the back of her mind.

 _He should have denied it flat out. Why didn't he? What is he hiding from me?_

"No, Rogue, he cares about us."

The implications of her statement made all his muscles freeze. _Us?_ He repeated in his mind, eyes searching her face for the truth. Lucy was so open. All of her emotions and thoughts played out on her face. She was frightened, questioning, hopeful, but at the same time despairing. She knew something was wrong.

"'Us?'"

She nodded, her hands curling up on his cloaked arms, clenching and unclenching nervously. "He knows," she whispered. "He knows about us and the baby." One hand left his arm to press against her belly. His eyes dropped to the swell that showed the world that she was his and his alone. It made sense Sting would have figured out about their child. For all his pretending to be dim, the other dragon wasn't completely stupid. He was about to say something reassuring to his wife when her next words chilled him to the bone. "He wants to help you, to help us."

Her body began to shake, her terror becoming palpable. Why was she so afraid? A black shadow whispered a thought in his ear. **Is she afraid you will find out something about her you don't wish to know?** He tried to banish the thought, but the way Lucy continued to tremble make him think twice.

"All I want is your love. No power anyone possesses will change that."

He shook his head slowly. "Love can't stop death, Lucy. Only my new powers will."

"But at what cost, Rogue?" Lucy burst out, fear dripping from every word. "You're a good person, I know it! Don't do this, please, Rogue." Her heart dropped as he shook his head again. "I won't lose you like I lost Skiadrum. I'm becoming the most powerful man alive." He paused and the harsh light in his ruby eyes softened just a hint. "And I'm doing it for _you_."

A gasp fell from her beautiful lips. Too caught up in his delusions to notice her flinches and pulling away, he began ranting about becoming the most powerful person in existence all to keep her safe. She backed away from him as one would from a dangerous animal. Love faded from her eyes as she saw what Sting had tried to warn her of; her husband had descended into madness. Her shaking voice broke through his self-absorbed tirade. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Sting was right. You've _changed_ , Rogue."

At the mention of that hated name, Rogue let out a vicious snarl. "I don't want to hear any more about Sting," he growled, the name falling contemptuously off his lips. He stabbed a finger in her direction. "I've already been betrayed by everyone I know, don't you dare turn against me, too, Lucy," he warned, anger building in his chest as she continued to back away from him. She shouldn't be pulling away. She should be leaping into his arms with joy that he was able to protect her now. Every crime he committed, every drop of he blood shed, every life he snuffed out, it was all for her.

It was always for her.

The salty smell of her tears filled the air. "I don't know you anymore," Lucy rasped out. Tears dripped in an unending stream down her face. Her trembling hands reached up blindly to wipe them away only for more to replace them. "Rogue, you're breaking my heart." She pressed a hand to her heart, feeling as if literal cracks were running down its length, fracturing every bit they touched. The man before her wasn't her husband, her lover, the father of her child.

He had turned into a monster.

"You're going down a path I can't follow, Rogue." He wasn't looking at her, his eyes trained over her shoulder.

"Because of Sting?"

"Because of what you've done! What you plan to do!" What was he looking at with such hatred? "Stop! Stop now, come back to me! It doesn't have to be this way!" She choked on the force of her grief, terror, tears. Getting so hysterical wasn't good for her or her baby. But right now, her own health and safety were the furthest things from her mind. "I love you!"

Rogue stalked away from her, away to the side. With a whirl, he pinned the blonde woman with a furious, murderous glare. She let out an involuntary scream of fear when his red eyes speared her. "LIAR!" He bellowed. Lucy spun, heart leaping to her throat as her eyes fell on Sting. "No," she whispered desperately. Had he followed her, guessing she would know _exactly_ where to find Rogue? Rogue would see it as a breach of the trust they had placed in each other when they married. Lucy began backing up even more, frantically trying to protect herself from the enraged black cloaked man coming at her like a furious whirlwind.

"You're with him!" He screamed, shadows beginning to pulse around them. "You brought him here to kill me!"

"No! No, Rogue, I didn't! I swear! "

Even her screams had lost their power to move him. All he could focus on was his need for revenge. Rogue's black heart had never felt so on fire with all the raging power of a thousand devils as he stared at the man he had once considered closer than a brother. **He has betrayed you. Why is he here with _your_ wife? What sort of game are they playing? ** The shadow's insidious whisper found a home in his heart. Seeing Sting, and seeing Lucy's terrified reaction, only confirmed what he had guessed.

She had betrayed him.

His hand slid around her throat, tightening while he snarled. She had _betrayed_ him. She had consorted with his enemy, batted those eyelashes and flirted with the man he used to call best friend. Was the child inside her even his? Or had she offered herself to another man in his long absence? Was Sting the one she had desired all along? Was the child she carried fathered by his best friend?

 _Just how deep did her betrayal go?_

He relished the terror in her eyes, the way she clawed desperately at his hand that was crushing her windpipe. Her deep brown eyes were begging him to release her before he killed her. She should have known what would happen if she was unfaithful to him. He was a dragon, possessive and controlling, jealously guarding what was his even to the death.

And _she_ belonged to _him_.

"Ro…" she couldn't force another syllable past the pressure in her throat. She needed to tell him she _hadn't_ betrayed him, that her heart had only ever belonged to him.

"Let her go, Rogue! You're going to kill her!" Sting shouted at the other man. He was frozen in place, unable to move to save her. There was some physical boundary around the couple. He wasn't strong enough to break it.

"If I cannot have her," Rogue's voice was dark, cold, feral. He sounded more like a dragon than a real one ever could. His voice dropped, the dark madness in it evident. "Then no one can." His hand clenched tighter one more time before his grip loosened and she slid to the ground. Her shoulder hit first then the side of her head.

She didn't move after that.

"You will not take her from me!" Rogue screamed at Sting. Shadows boiled around the two, dark whispers fighting to nest in cracks and crevices of darkness. The blond stared from the limp body of the girl he loved to his former friend with horror written on his face.

Rogue had just murdered his wife and unborn child in a fit of jealousy with no signs of regret. And he hadn't been able to do a thing about it.

Sting's voice shook, betraying his agony. "You have done that yourself."

As light and shadow clashed above her, one intent on revenge, the other on possession, Lucy's life fluttered away. Even if Sting was successful in stopping Rogue, it was too late for Lucy and her baby.

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 **A/N:** _This story was based entirely on the scene in Star Wars Episode Three where Anakin and Padme fight and, well, he kills her. Some of the dialogue is almost exactly the same, most I rewrote for more dramatic impact._


End file.
